Gov. Perry security on Palau trip cost nearly $50,000

AUSTIN – Taxpayers are footing a bill topping $48,000 for the security detail that accompanied Gov. Rick Perry and his wife, Anita, on a spring trip to the Pacific island nation of Palau

Perry traveled to the Republic of Palau in April to help search for World War II military members who were missing in action there. The expedition was filmed for a documentary by the BentProp Project, which searches for the missing and prisoners of war from that era.

When Perry’s office announced the trip, it said no tax dollars would pay for his or his wife’s travel or accommodations. His office said the BentStar Project, which helps fund the BentProp Project, covered their travel costs. The company filming the documentary, Pursuit Productions, covered accommodations.

Taxpayers, however, picked up the tab for the security detail. The state pays for security on all Perry’s travels, even though his direct costs are usually picked up by his campaign or other means, such as the interests associated with BentProp in this case.

Perry has turned aside calls from some that he reimburse the state for political trips, pointing out that he is governor wherever he travels.

Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, told the San Antonio Express-News this year that Perry has received death threats.

The $48,277.13 security tab for the Palau trip was part of $197,266.22 in out-of-state travel costs for Perry’s security detail on the most recent quarterly DPS report provided to the Express-News.

Perry, who is considering a second race for president in 2016, is keeping a typically busy travel schedule that includes political events; efforts to lure business to Texas and other state-related business; and trips like the one to Palau.

The latest DPS report covered March through May, plus lingering costs from trips that occurred earlier.

Besides Palau, it included security costs of Perry trips to Las Vegas; Scottsdale, Ariz.; Daytona Beach and Tallahassee, Florida; Cleveland, Ohio; stops in California; New York; several trips to Washington D.C., including a White House visit; plus his trip to National Harbor in Maryland, where he spoke at the Conservative Political Action Committee annual conference in March.

The latest expenses push Perry’s security detail costs for out-of-state trips to more than $3.1 million since his 2010 re-election. Of that, $1.8 million occurred from August 2011 through January 2012, when Perry unsuccessfully sought the GOP nomination for president.